Let Me Fall
by lomear
Summary: There is a reason why merpeople do not give their hearts to those above the sea. So when Yami discovers a merboy who looks strikingly like him, they slowly begin falling for each other. But Yugi is immortal and Yami doesn't know.
1. Prologue

a/n: I love mermaids and merpeople, so I ended up imagining cute lil' Yugi as one hehe. I'm sure there are other stories similar to this, if there are I haven't had a chance to read 'em yet. If I accidentally wrote the same idea as someone else, I'm sorry!!

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Prologue:

Rain and wind pelted relentlessly down the glass pane. The small streams of rainwater ebbed and flowed together as if weaving a clear cloth over the glass.

Yami stood by the window in his apartment, staring outside. He sipped green tea in a cream colored mug, enjoying the warm tendrils of steam curling up from the hot liquid.

Faintly, through the curtains of falling drops Yami could catch watery glimpses of the ocean. It looked so frigid and turbulent, making him doubly glad of the light and warmth in his cozy living room.

He left the window and walked over to the television, turned it on and dropped onto a well loved couch.

"Record waves hitting shorelines, a warning has been issued," said the weatherman in a monotone.

_Duh, _Yami thought sarcastically, taking a deep swig out of his mug. _I dare you, weatherman, to tell me something I don't already know._

"In several districts, there are reports of strange fish being washed ashore by the huge waves."

_Hmm. That's more like it. Maybe something interesting will wash up on my beach. _He leaned back.

"We still don't know where such a violent storm as this one originated, or why. Many viewers called in to ask why we didn't issue a warning ahead of time. We are sorry, but we didn't see it coming. One moment everything was normal, then the next...well, you see can see it for yourself."

_Weird. Still, I'm sorry for anyone who might've been caught in this storm. _ He flicked the television off, deciding that when the storm was over he'd head out to his beach and explore what washed might have washed up.


	2. Chapter 1 Wreck

a/n: awww omg thank you for the reviews!!!! they really made my day :D um if I do keep writing this thingy, the chapters will get longer so yeah 

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Chapter 1 Wreck

Later in the day, the storm miraculously dissipated. Patches of clear blue sky could be seen beyond the shifting clouds.

Yami fastened up a long wool coat, whistling absentmindedly. He stared musingly into the distance, crimson eyes lit with the inner fire of creative thought.

He wasn't sure why, but he always felt inspired after a storm passed and left the world bathed in quiet.

Opening the door, he stepped out into the bracing sea air, armed with his favorite easel and watercolours packed in a bag. The air was cold and salty against his face as he inhaled deeply.

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The beach below his oceanfront apartment complex was about a mile long and fanned out into a cove at one end, where rocky cliffs jutted up from the waves. . Tall, windblown trees and sharp grasses clung to the sides and along the ridges.

Yami squinted against the newly shining sun, surveying the aftermath the high surf had left in its wake. Green and brown seaweed lay strewn, twisted, and coiled across the sand in a swirling lacework. Pieces of coral littered the soaked ground like a shattered mosaic._ What a beautiful disaster, _he thought. Picking his way through the sea wrack, his attention was suddenly drawn to an oddly shaped pile of weed and kelp at the further end of the beach.

"Strange," he muttered aloud. The heap lay half in and out of a deep tide pool. His curiosity was piqued when a soft sound came from the mound of tangled sea greenery. _It sounds like a person and it's a little too big to be an animal. And fish sure don't make sounds like that, _he thought with a smirk. "Hey!" he called out. "I'm coming!" Dashing haphazardly, he closed the distance between them. _Did someone get caught in the storm?_

"_Uhnnn." _The sound came again, this time undoubtedly human, like someone who was just waking up from being unconscious.

"Hey," Yami said, dropping to his knees. He tore at the shimmering green stalks and long fronds of kelp that bound the small figure that was now thrashing around.

"I've got y-" the words stopped in his mouth when his fingertips touched something cool and slippery, and what felt like...scales? On a fish. A very big fish. _What the-? _His heart jolted in shock when a small, cold hand reached out from the weedy mass and weakly curled around his wrist.


	3. Chapter 3 What Are These For?

a/n: heh hehe, thank you soooo much for the awesome reviews :D :D

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Chapter 2

Yami was capable of only one response. "Aaaaaaaahhhh!!!"

The cold hand moved again.

"Aaaaaaahhhh!!!" He mentally slapped himself, _okay, okay, get a hold of yourself. _ His eyes squeezed tightly shut. _Get a grip, you're twenty years old for freakin's sake. _Slowly, little by little...

Fiery crimson eyes opened, looking down into two jewels that flickered back like pools of amethyst light.

Yami's mouth went very dry. "You're...you're...a...a..." he just couldn't bring himself to get that word out of his mouth. Pulling away the snarled up kelp wrapped around the smaller figure's body, his shock was slowly giving way to awe as he realized what this meant. _Mermaids are frikkin real. _

"Just say it. Merboy. _Meeerboy,"_ came an unexpected voice.

_Mer...boy? _"Um..." Yami's own voice faltered, his mouth still not quite able to form the word, "I...uh...uh..."

"Merboy. Anyone can say that. Unless..." a flicker of amusement flitted across the smaller boy's delicately shaped features, "you humans are as dim-witted as Father says they are."

"Hey! I resent that," Yami exclaimed suddenly.

"Then say it."

"M-m-mer...boy."

"Good. Now get me out of this kelp," the boy demanded, a weak smile creeping onto his pale face. His voice sounded tired, and his brilliantly glittering eyes were beginning to droop shut.

"I'm trying!" Wrenching the last of the seaweed and kelp off, Yami sucked in a sudden breath in amazement. Aquamarine scales shimmered iridescently all along the merboy's slim tail. Wide fins fanned out gracefully, and were a deep rich cerulean tipped with pale foamy green. "What's...what's your name?"

"Yugi," he answered softly. "And yours?"

"Yami."

"Nice to meet you, mortal Yami."

"Mortal Yami?" Yami said, his eyebrow quirked. But Yugi had already fallen asleep from what looked like sheer exhaustion. Yami scratched the side of his face and figured the only thing he could do for the present was to take Yugi home and let him rest.

Back in the warmth of the apartment, Yami stood sipping tea by the window again. At the moment he was reflecting on how odd it was to have a merboy happily sleeping on his couch.

Did life get any weirder?

Yugi had been asleep for a long time. Yami idly wondered what Yugi would and could eat. Being aquatic in nature, Yami suspected that Yugi would most appreciate foods like sushi...or something.

Sounds coming from the couch broke into his thoughts and he turned his head.

Yugi had opened his eyes. He was intently studying the somewhat ratty couch that he was currently inhabiting, especially the blanket that Yami had covered him with. "These are...odd. But soft. What do you call them?"

Yami fought the urge to snicker. "Heh...um, the thing you're laying on is a couch. And the thing that's laying on you is a blanket."

Yugi rubbed his eyes thoughtfully. "Hmm. Couch. Blanket." He looked up at his rescuer, staring at him hard. "You look like me," he said simply.

"You finally noticed, eh?" Yami replied calmly, as if nothing more could surprise him. "Are you hungry, Yugi? I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of food...I haven't gone shopping yet. I do have some left over rice though..."

"I'll try it!"

"All right," he nodded. Yami was in the kitchen heating up the rice when he heard a small _thump_ come from the other room, and a loud squeak. _What in the world? _He dashed into the other room, only to find Yugi on the floor trying to squirm out of the blanket he had somehow gotten tangled up in.

"Get it off, get it off, " Yugi panicked, still squeaking.

After Yami managed to extract him from the harmless blanket, which Yugi was glaring at darkly from time to time, Yami handed the bowl of rice and chopsticks to the small merboy. Yugi responded by looking back at him in complete confusion. "What in the world am I supposed to do with these?"

"Eat the rice with 'em. Like this," Yami demonstrated in a way he hoped made it look easy, because it wasn't really all that hard, was it?

Apparently it _was, _since Yugi was now angrily stabbing at the rice. Finally he threw them away and proceeded to eat with his fingers.

Yami was grinning, "So how do you like it?"

Yugi made a face. "Mushy. Needs salt."

"Wha-? That sounds gross, no offense."

"Oh come one, just try it. Salt makes everything better."

Yami returned with a salt shaker and handed it to Yugi, who gleefully sprinkled it all over the rice, then took another bite. "Mmm. Perfection. Here, try some."

Yami took a small bite. "Ehm...it's...interesting..."

Now that Yugi had eaten, he looked like he was ready to rest again, so Yami carefully lifted him in his arms and placed him back on the couch. When he went to pick up the blanket, Yugi shook his head adamantly. "No blanket."

"Yugi, one question."

"Sure."

"How old are you?"

Yugi seemed to be calculating something in his head, "Hmmm, I think it would be sixteen or so in your years. In sea years I'm older."

Yami laughed softly to himself while he watched his little discovery falling asleep. _What am I going to do with him? And what about my friends, what am I going to tell them? He obviously can't stay here forever...I've got to put him back sometime. _ Unconsciously his eyes wandered in Yugi's direction. _Heh, well, I hope I don't have to put him back just yet. He's pretty darn cute. _


End file.
